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HMMWV M1114 UAH (Up-Armored Humvee)

1994 MODERN

History

The M1114 UAH (Upper Armored Humvee) is a customized version of the Humvee series designed to provide better protection for crew and systems etc. Building on the achievements of the M1109 highly armored HMMWV vehicle, the M1114 features improved armor mapping at various points throughout the HMMWV base design. The M1109 was introduced in May 1994 and entered service in Somalia, Haiti and Bosnia. The M1114 was developed to meet the US Army's requirements for a similar purpose-built vehicle based on the M1113 ECH Hummer model.

AM General provided the basic Humvee frame, while armor assignments were done by specialists at O'Gara-Hess Eisenhardt. The prototype appeared as the XM1114.

The XM1114 underwent a series of ballistic tests starting in September 1995 to test the validity of the concept. The armor is integrated into the existing Humvee frame and is made of welded aluminum, composites and steel. Basic armor protection allows stopping 7.62mm ammunition from a distance of up to 100 meters. The front underside of the vehicle can withstand a 12-pound mine blast, while the rear of the vehicle can withstand a 4-pound mine blast. In addition, all-round protection allows the vehicle and crew to withstand fragmentation blasts from the 155mm gun.

While the exterior draws attention, the interior has also been redesigned to include anti-fragmentation armor as the ammunition enters the cabin. In December 1995, the experimental XM114 vehicle underwent live-fire tests in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The first production M1114 UAH hit the market in January 1996.

The M1114 is equipped with a 360 degree swivel ring mount for attachment to a range of approved weapon systems. This could include the Browning M2HB. 50 caliber machine gun, M240 or M60 7.62mm general purpose machine gun, M249 5.56mm SAW or Mk 19 Mod 3 40mm automatic grenade launcher. Additionally, it is possible to see the M1114 paired with a 6-barrel M134 miniature machine gun or a 3-barrel GAU-19/A Gatling gun, although this is less common. Early M1114 deliveries offered little protection to the artillery operator, so later M1114 systems supplied by O'Gara-Hess Eisenhardt were fitted with a more useful forward armor protection kit.

A revised and improved three-sided armor kit was available in 2004. All early M1114 systems were retrofitted with this improved armor protection system.

The M114 has proven very useful on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, where the vehicle can come under attack at any time with a variety of weapons and ammunition from all directions - giving many of the crew the opportunity to even attack combat another day, if The M1114 they were on was listed as a total loss.